Monthly Report | May 2024

The Australian earned the honors in March following his second-round clattering of Matt Schnell, a performance that established him as a fringe contender in the flyweight division and someone to pay close attention to going forward. But then he was selected to fight for the title in Rio de Janeiro, which elevated his profile to an entirely different level, creating the opportunity for “Astroboy” to have a second breakout in the space of three months.

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“I think this guy is a lot better than people understand. I’m really looking forward to this fight because I think it’s one where even if he loses, he comes away and we go, ‘This guy is good; he’s gonna be hanging out here for a little bit,’ because he’s only 27.”

That’s what I said about Erceg when Eric Nicksick and I broke down his championship pairing with Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 301 in the last edition of the Coach Conversation series, and it didn’t take long for the Australian challenger to exceed even our expectations of him.

When he withstood Pantoja’s initial push to start the fight, it signaled that Erceg was game and not going to go away easy. When he won the second round behind his striking, it made it clear that the champion had a serious fight on his hands, and while he ended up on the wrong side of the results, if not for a poor tactical decision in the fifth round, the unheralded talent could have emerged as the new flyweight champion.

As I wrote in my post-pay-per-view column The Bigger Picture, that decision and its impact on the final verdict is going to be a bitter pill for Erceg to swallow, but it will also make him better, and that is a scary thing for the rest of the division to consider.

View Erceg's Athlete Profile 

This was his fourth appearance in the UFC and just his 14th fight overall, and he’s still just 27 years old — there is still a bunch of room for him to grow and develop and further refine his game, even though he just gave the champion all he could handle in his hometown. They’re obviously different fighters, but this effort reminds me a little of Georges St-Pierre’s first welterweight title opportunity opposite Matt Hughes because even though he lost, you knew he was going to be champion one day when he finally put all the pieces together.

Two years later, “GSP” claimed the belt, stopping Hughes in the second round.

Two years from now, it would not be a surprise if Erceg is sitting on the flyweight throne.

Honorable Mentions: Michel Pereira, Caio Borralho, Joanderson Brito, Mauricio Ruffy, Alessandro Costa, Chase Hooper, Esteban Ribovics, Oumar Sy

Submission of the Month: Angela Hill submits Luana Pinheiro (UFC Vegas 92)

Every so often you get a result that just makes you smile, and this is one of those times.

When you hear athletes speak about their time in the gym, they’ll always tell you about how much they’re working to round out the elements of their game, looking to strengthen strengths and develop the pieces that might be lacking. Rarely do you get to see the results of those efforts as clearly as we saw here.

Hill’s bout with Pinheiro was the 30th of her career and 25th inside the UFC Octagon. She had 16 career victories heading in and zero by way of submission. A striker by trade, Hill has been working on her grappling and jiu jitsu for years, and even hinted at perhaps trying to submit Mackenzie Dern when she faced off with the former BJJ world champion a year ago.

RELATED: Hill's Post-Fight Interview 

Last weekend, everyone finally got to see the fruits of Hill’s labor as she quickly locked up a clean guillotine choke on Pinheiro, securing the first submission win of her career.

When the Brazilian reached forward for a panicked takedown attempt, extending her arms, but not bringing her body with her, Hill clocked her exposed neck immediately, locked up the choke and jumped to guard. Seconds after they hit the canvas, Hill rolled Pinheiro over, moving into mount, and secured the tap.

As much as we joke about not jumping guillotines, there are moments where it’s clearly a good option and this was one of those instances. The choke was set, Pinheiro was trapped, and rather than working for a standing, high-angle variation, taking it to the canvas and flipping her onto her back was the best finishing approach for Hill.

The 39-year-old has long been one of those competitors whose record doesn’t accurately reflect her level of skill nor speak to the challenge she presents everyone that steps in against her, but against Pinheiro, we saw just how dangerous she is and that even this far into her career, “Overkill” is still developing new weapons for her arsenal.

Honorable Mentions: Anthony Smith vs. Vitor Petrino, Michel Pereira vs. Ihor Potieria, Chase Hooper vs. Viacheslav Borshchev

Knockout of the Month: Esteban Ribovics stops Terrance McKinney (UFC St. Louis)

When your opponent ends up seated against the fence, sound asleep, and comes to with no sense of how they ended up in that particular position, that’s pretty clearly a sign that you delivered the top knockout of the month.

That said, I think you could stick Pantoja and Erceg in a three-round tussle to open a show, no belt hanging in the balance, and these two fellas would still combine for a classic, just as they did in Rio de Janeiro at the start of the month.

While there is no denying that all the narrative elements and questions that hovered over this contest heightened the anticipation for it, what always matters most is what transpires inside the Octagon, and from the outset, it was clear these two were going to deliver something special.

Pantoja tried to swarm and drown the challenger straight away, and Erceg showed he was capable of swimming in the championship depths, steadying himself in the second to draw level and turn this into a three-round battle to determine divisional supremacy. Two of the three officials had it level heading into the final stanza, and in the early moments, it seemed like a new champion might be getting crowned, only for the challenger to make a tactical mistake and the hometown titleholder to turn the tables and claim victory.

This was a tense, competitive, exciting fight from start to finish; the kind of intense battle that resonates with me much more than any wild brawl or straight-up gunfight, and I would honestly be surprised if we don’t see it again at some point in the next couple years.

Regardless of whether there is a title involved or not, it will be must-see TV.

Honorable Mentions: Myktybek Orolbai vs. Elves Brener, Trey Waters vs. Billy Goff